皮漏斗之谜（5）（在线收听）

“I will tell you. You know that I have an agent who is always on the look-out for rarities and curiosities for my collection. Some days ago he heard of a dealer upon one of the Quais who had acquired some old rubbish found in a cupboard in an ancient house at the back of the Rue Mathurin, in the Quartier Latin. The dining-room of this old house is decorated with a coat of arms, chevrons, and bars rouge upon a field argent, which prove, upon inquiry, to be the shield of Nicholas de la Reynie, a high official of King Louis XIV. There can be no doubt that the other articles in the cupboard date back to the early days of that king. The inference is, therefore, that they were all the property of this Nicholas de la Reynie, who was, as I understand, the gentleman specially concerned with the maintenance and execution of the Draconic laws of that epoch.”

“What then?”

“I would ask you now to take the funnel into your hands once more and to examine the upper brass rim. Can you make out any lettering upon it?”

There were certainly some scratches upon it, almost obliterated by time. The general effect was of several letters, the last of which bore some resemblance to a B.

“You make it a B?”

“Yes, I do.”

“So do I. In fact, I have no doubt whatever that it is a B.”

“But the nobleman you mentioned would have had R for his initial.”

“我来告诉你。你知道，我有个经纪人，他为我寻找值得收藏的珍稀古玩。前不久，他听说码头上有个商人手里有些破烂旧货，是在拉丁区的马修林大街僻静处的一所老房子里的碗橱中发现的。那所老房子的餐厅陈列着纹章、臂章，银色的盾面上有红色条纹。后来经考证得知，那个盾牌属于国王路易十四的大臣领尼古拉德拉瑞尼，毫无疑问，碗橱里的东西都可以追溯到路易十四王朝初期。所以，可以推论，它们全是尼古拉德拉瑞尼的物品。据我所知，这位绅士是那个时代严刑俊法的维护者和执行者。”

“那又怎样？”